No Proof against Rajiv Gandhi: Bofors Swedish whistleblower

New Delhi, Apr 25: After 25 long years, the Swedish whistleblower who blew the lid off the Bofors scam, has revealed his identity in an interview on website thehoot.org.

In an interview, former head of Swedish police Sten Lindstrom has revealed that it was he who leaked over 350 documents to Indian journalist Chitra Subramanian, who first cracked the scam. He divulged that there was no evidence against the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of taking bribe in the gun deals. Gandhi "watched the massive cover-up" between the two nations but "did nothing," he added.

In Bofors case, India's Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB as they won a bid to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer.

Lindstrom also discussed about Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, the main accused of receiving bribes from Bofors.

"Ardbo, (Bofors managing director), had written in his notes that the identity of N (Arun Nehru) becoming public was a minor concern but at no cost could the identity of Q (Quattrokey) be revealed because of his closeness to R (Rajiv Gandhi)," Lindstrom said.

In 1993, Mr Quattrocchi left India to avoid being arrested. The Delhi High court asked the CBI agency to close the case after the agency failed to get Quattrocchi's extradition to India.